Assessment of changes in Grenache grapevine maturity in a Mediterranean context over the last half-century

This study aims to i) evaluate some descriptive variables for Grenache berry composition over the last 50 years in the southern Rhône Valley wine-growing region and ii) analyse the impacts of climate on the main annual developmental phases of the Grenache berry to understand recent changes observed in the vineyard. A large and spatialised historical, open database from the Rhône Valley grape maturity network (1969–2020) was used to explore trends in grape profile during maturity and at harvest. Then, gridded climate data was used for processing phenological stages and ecoclimatic indicators. Significant changes in grapevine phenology and maturity dynamics were found and linked with changes to ecoclimatic indicators by carrying out a correlation analysis. Depending on the phenological phases, a limited number of ecoclimatic indicators had a significant effect on the maturity profile. The results highlight direct climate impacts on different maturity and yield variables over the last 50 years. These results provide important information about future issues in grape production and the implications for managing viticulture adaptation strategies and thus serve as a basis for assessing, prioritising and optimising technical means of maintaining current grape quality and yield.This study uses an ecoclimatic approach for examining in detail the effects of climate change on the Grenache grape variety in a Mediterranean context. The open database provides the latest information from a large network of plots and over a long period of time, making it possible to validate many results recorded in the literature. This is the first study to use this open database and we wish this database could lead to further explorations and results in viticulture and climate change issues.

The voyage of the ‘Guyot Stone’ from the Swiss Alps to Neuchâtel and Princeton

In 1890, former students of Arnold Guyot at the University of Neuchàtel dedicated a ‘large glacial boulder from Neuchâtel’ to his memory, now in front of Guyot Hall at Princeton University. We established that this block originated with all certainty from Upper Carboniferous conglomerates of the Salvan–Dorénaz Basin, the relics of which crop out in the Alps of western Switzerland and eastern France. During the Last Glacial Maximum, the boulder travelled from the lower Rhône Valley on the back of the Pleistocene Rhône Glacier to Neuchâtel from where, later, it crossed the Atlantic and was transported to Princeton. Guyot’s name is familiar to geologists because of the term ‘guyot’, introduced 1946 by Harry Hess for ‘curious flat-topped peaks scattered over millions of square miles in the Pacific basin’, many of which are now known to represent drowned carbonate platforms.

Evaluation of thermally driven local winds in a deep Alpine valley in a high-resolution numerical weather prediction model

<p>In fair weather conditions, thermally driven local winds are dominant feature of the atmospheric boundary layer over complex terrain. They may dominate the wind climatology in deep Alpine valleys resulting in a unique wind climatology for any given valley. The accurate forecasting of these local wind systems is challenging, as they are the result of complex and multi-scale interactions. Even more so, if the aim is the accurate forecasting of the winds from the near-surface to the free atmosphere, which can be considered a prerequisite for the accurate prediction of mountain weather.  This study investigates the skill of the COSMO model at 1.1 km grid spacing in simulating the thermally driven local winds in the Swiss Alps for a month-long period in September 2016. The study combines the evaluation of the surface winds in several Alpine valleys with a more detailed evaluation of the wind evolution throughout the depth of the valley atmosphere for a particular location in the Swiss Rhone valley, the town of Sion. The former is based on a comparison with observations from the operational measurement network of MeteoSwiss, while the latter uses data from a wind profiler stationed at Sion airport. It is found that the near-surface valley wind is generally well represented for the larger Alpine valleys, except for the Rhone valley at Sion. The reasons for the poor skill at Sion are investigated and shown to be attributable to several factors. One of which is a too strong cross-valley flow reaching down to the valley floor and displacing the daytime up-valley wind. A second factor is the particular local valley geometry. It is shown that an increase of the initial soil moisture and the use a finer horizontal grid spacing results in an improved simulation of the diurnal valley wind at Sion.</p>

The Cardial–Epicardial Early Neolithic of Lower Rhône Valley (South-Eastern France): A Lithic Perspective

In the lower Rhône Valley, many sites are attributed to the Early Neolithic and dated between 5600 and 4800 cal. BC. According to their ceramic production, they are associated with two cultural facies: the Cardial and the Epicardial. The relation between these two entities is still under debate (chronological, cultural or functional distinctions?). However, little is known about the lithic production of the region since the chipped stone industries are rarely evoked in the socioeconomic and cultural understanding of these first agropastoral societies. The objective of this paper is to propose a regional synthesis regarding Early Neolithic lithic industries, based on typo-technological studies of several assemblages in the Rhône Valley: The Montclus rockshelter (layers 5 to 2), the Baume de Ronze rockshelter, Le Taï and the Aigle cave. These sites are considered to be the key sites for understanding the Cardial/Epicardial complex in this area, but their lithic assemblages have never been thoroughly studied. Special attention will be given to the factors of variability or, on the contrary, to the permanence in the “schema opératoire” and we will propose explanations related to geological, functional, chronological and cultural constraints. We will also focus on lithic blade production made from honey flint and the spacialisation of “chaine opératoire” which could highlight circulation of this raw material and specialised distribution network. Finally, this synthesis is based on a renewed corpus of radiocarbon dates in order to understand this evolutionary dynamic as finely as possible.